Jumping to Conclusions
by Sakura Keiko
Summary: Ruka finally gets the courage to confess his undying and infinite love for a certain auburn-haired girl, but Natsume beats him to it. Will he continue to chase after her or will he realize that heart-break, unlike most long-term diseases, can be cured?


**A/n: I'm so sorry. I should really be updating my other stories right now, but this kept bugging me for weeks, so I decided to put it into writing. I'm so very sorry! I promise I'll update them once I've convinced my brain that they need to be updated.**

**Dedication: **For my newfound friend, _**ThingsNeverChange**_, who shares my love for Dan Brown books and the RukaRu couple. :) This is for you!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gakuen Alice, but if or when Higuchi Tachibana gets a son, I _will_ attempt to marry him, so I can inherit the manga and make Ruka fall in love with Hotaru—Oops. I think I just spoiled the story…

**Summary: **When Ruka finally had the courage to confess his undying and infinite love to a certain auburn-haired girl, Natsume beats him to it. Will he still continue to chase after her or will he give up and realize that heart-break, unlike most long-term diseases, can be cured?

Ruka sighed. _Tomorrow._ He was definitely going to do it tomorrow. There would never be other opportunities like this one. Well, there _would_ be, but it would be three hundred, sixty-five and one-fourth days away. And he just couldn't wait that long.

He even researched on Saint Valentine, out of desperation. Apparently, according to Wikipedia, there weren't many reliable facts about him and there were a lot of people who had the same name as his.

'_You're so pathetic, Ruka,' _he told himself.

He didn't even know _how_ to confess. He had never done it before. Sure, he had some minor crushes before toward people who didn't have Alices, but he never really got the guts to confess to them.

Questions crowded his already bustling head. Should he just come out from nowhere, pouring out all of his overflowing feelings to her? Or should he give her a rose, _then_ tell her? Or maybe he should do it the other way around?

"Honestly," Ruka thought to himself, out loud, "Why is it so hard to confess?"

"Well, that depends on the kind of person you are, the kind of attitude the girl possesses, and your history together."

Ruka turned around to see the owner of the voice. He found himself face-to-face to Hotaru Imai, the well-known, cold-hearted blackmailer. She had always found joy in selling Ruka's embarrassing pictures. But what is she doing, giving him advice about confessing at eleven o'clock in the evening?

Perhaps she had some ingenious plan involving Ruka getting rejected and her getting rich.

"You can't—_calculate_ love, Imai," Ruka suddenly burst out. "A-Anyway, what are you doing here?"

He turned around again, not wanting to see her emotionless face when he was planning his awesome plot of confessing to the beautiful and charismatic Mikan Sakura. Her stoic expression would just clear him of all his great ideas.

"I couldn't sleep." Was her plain, completely blunt answer. "Anyway, tomorrow you are going to confess to my friend, Mikan Sakura, and you have no experience in the subject of confession whatsoever."

'_Am I really that easy to read?'_ Ruka thought to himself. '_Or is she just very good at reading other people's minds, even when they're trying so hard to hide them?'_

"Uh, yeah."

Hotaru pulled out a pile of paper, neatly stapled, from her bag, which Ruka just noticed right now, and handed it to him. Instead of taking the paper, he instead stared questioningly at the small bag Hotaru was carrying and doubted that those papers could fit in there without getting crumpled.

Hotaru, seeing Ruka's obvious curiosity pinpointing to the bag, said. "It's one of my inventions. No more questions. Back to the point, these papers contain information about your object of affection and would greatly increase your advantage over…_competition_."

He took the pile just as Hotaru started talking again. "Mikan likes chocolates—without nuts—puppies, Howalon, shiny objects—just make sure that they're not sharp, because she's such a ditz—and things that glow in the dark. Plus, you have to be careful in describing her physical characteristics. She gets really conscious easily."

Ruka scanned the sheets of paper and found out that it was, actually, a _real_ list of what Mikan likes and not a fake list so that he could make a fool of himself in front of her. He found a lot of obvious habits, likes, and dislikes, but he _did_ discover some weird routines that were unusual for Mikan. Unusual, but important.

And if not for this pile of papers, he would never find out about them.

"Why?" He couldn't stop himself from asking.

Hotaru, for the first time in a long time, looked at him directly. He suddenly felt very small, like Hotaru was some amazing, intelligent, exotic creature and he was a small ant.

Then, before he knew it, she was gone, leaving a flabbergasted Ruka, holding in his hand all that he needed to win Mikan Sakura's heart.

* * *

Ruka held his breath and started to walk, a box of chocolates in his hands. He was determined to _at least_ get Mikan to smile at him. He remembered the time when she first introduced herself to the class. She was smiling so much that Ruka was sure Natsume loathed her already. He reminisced about his Snow White play and how he almost got to kiss her. Or, rather, how _she_ almost got to kiss _him_ and how Natsume threw an apple at them, ruining their precious moment. *

Ruka took another step, and finally lifted his head from its position facing the floor to his target.

His eyes widened when he saw his best friend, Natsume Hyuuga, already with her and actually succeeding in making her laugh. He suddenly felt angry and betrayed.

'_Natsume _knew_ I love her! How could he?'_ Ruka asked himself, suddenly finding himself in the men's room. He looked at his reflection and the reality of the situation dawned at him. _'Of course. Of course Mikan would choose Natsume over me. He's an amazing Alice user and can control himself properly. Of course. Compared to him, I'm just… a side kick.'_

Natsume had always been the better one. He was the one who went on missions to save the ones he loved, he was the one who tried to push people away in fear of dragging him into the darkness that has engulfed him and, apparently, he was always the one who got the girl.

Ruka sighed. _Now_ what would he do with the box of chocolates he had? He couldn't possible eat it all by himself. And besides, that would look desperate.

But then again, he _is_ desperate.

* * *

"This is good chocolate," Hotaru Imai commented, popping another one in her mouth.

Ruka groaned, frustrated at this person's lack of emotion. "_Imai_, you're supposed to be helping me!"

Hotaru ate another piece of chocolate, then said, "So let me get this straight. When you, Ruka Nogi—Bunny-boy, obvious coward—"

Ruka groaned again, louder this time.

Hotaru continued, emotion never flickering in her eyes. "—finally gets the guts to confess to the bubbly and clumsy ditz Mikan Sakura, the great, ever-popular Natsume Hyuuga beats him to it. This could be an interesting story."

Ruka frowned. "Imai. Are you going to help me or not? Because if you aren't, you can leave now."

Hotaru rolled her eyes. "And leave these delicious chocolates rotting in your animal refuge you call a room? I don't think so."

"If it's the chocolates you want—"

But Hotaru wasn't listening to him anymore. She was deep in thought.

"What you need," she said, eating another piece of chocolate once again. "Is a gimmick."

Ruka was extremely flabbergasted by this. "A _gimmick?"_

"Yes, a _gimmick_," Hotaru mocked, imitating his voice. "You know, the thing famous people do when they're desperate, like singing on a unicycle or dancing with a monkey."

Ruka's jaw almost dropped out. "You're going to make me dance with a monkey?"

"No, stupid." Hotaru said, scanning the empty box for any signs of a secret compartment in which some more chocolates could be wedged in. Finding none, she threw the box on the floor. "But something like that."

* * *

"I feel stupid." Ruka said, frowning.

He was wearing a pink fluffy, bunny suit. It was so unrealistic that it looked more like an oversized pink teddy bear than an _Oryctolagus Cuniculus. **_

He didn't know how _this_ was supposed to help him get Mikan. She would probably just laugh at him. Oh, and he was supposed to sing her a song too.

Hotaru smirked. "You _look_ and _are_ stupid, Nogi, so there isn't anything new, is there?"

If she wasn't helping him get the woman of his dreams, Ruka swears he would have growled at her right now.

Then he saw her. She was laughing, just like the time he last saw her, but now, she wasn't with Natsume anymore. She was with Tsubasa.

Ruka didn't have a problem with Tsubasa before. He was like a big brother to Mikan and he never really bothered Ruka before, sometimes even supporting him.

But now, seeing her laugh with him, Ruka felt anger.

"Ouch." Hotaru muttered beside him, no emotion in her face.

But Ruka paid no attention to her. He was so mad at Tsubasa that he had no time to banter with Hotaru Imai.

Once he gets his hands on that Shadow Manipulator, he's going to—going to…

Then it dawned on him that he couldn't really do anything. It's not like she was his to begin with. He had no right to be jealous. He had no right to beat the older dude into pulp, even if that would feel _so_ good to do right now. He was just a friend, nothing more.

Ruka closed his eyes and sat down, hating himself, for he can't do anything. He felt someone sit beside him.

"Are you giving up, Nogi?" Hotaru taunted him. "Are you going to let your inner coward out _again_?"

Ruka became angrier, but being angry didn't solve his problem. He didn't understand the meaning of this weird pep talk.

"There's nothing I can do," He whispered.

He heard a sigh beside him.

"So? You know, I've learned something, staying in this Academy for four years. We're Alices. We don't have space and time for giving up. When you trip, stand up, proud that you did."

Ruka didn't move for a moment. He pondered on what the Ice Queen was saying. Was this real? Was the Ice Queen really giving advice? _Again?_

He heard another sigh then footsteps, slowly fading into the distance. He lifted his head up and watched her back as she walked away from him, her face hidden from his view.

* * *

"Ruka?"

Ruka smiled weakly. It had been a long time since he'd talked to his best friend. "Hi, Natsume. Look, uh, I need to talk to you. Are you busy?"

"No," Natsume replied, and walked inside and left the door open. He sat down on his bed and waited for Ruka to talk.

Ruka walked through the doorway and sighed. "Natsume, is there—is there something between you and Mikan?"

"Ruka, we've talked about this," Natsume said.

They had agreed that both of them would not fight for Mikan anymore. But they both knew that this deal wouldn't hold up for long.

"I-I know, I know. It's just—I don't think we can keep this up. We can't just…you know…"

Natsume looked at him. "So you want to be rivals again?"

"I guess," Ruka replied, looking at the floor.

"Alright." Natsume said, standing. "Just remember, I won't hold back this time."

Ruka smiled. "I won't, either."

* * *

"Imai, I know you're in there." Ruka said, knocking once again at her door.

He wondered what she was doing inside. She wasn't possibly making another invention, since he could hear no noise inside. Perhaps she was asleep?

His question was answered when the door opened slightly, only enough to reveal Hotaru's face.

"What do you want?" She said, obviously annoyed.

'_Where did the girl who gave me a pep talk earlier go?'_

"Are you mad?" I asked her.

She glared at him. "Nogi, if you don't get to the point right now—"

"I'm going to tell her. Right now," Ruka said as confident as he could.

Hotaru was quiet.

Then she spoke up, "And if she rejects you?"

Ruka was expecting this. He had thought about it so much that he was surprised that she hadn't asked him more questions.

"I-I'll accept it. It's no use trying to change her view of me, anyway. If she won't like me the way I am right now, then I'm fine with that." Ruka breathed in. "I would be more ashamed if I acted like a different person."

"And you're telling me this—why?"

Ruka smiled. He knew he had to thank her. She was the one who had shaken him up and try harder after all. He understood that even though she doesn't show it, she really does care.

"Because I would like to thank you." Ruka answered. "I'm very grateful for the things you told me earlier. How do you understand these kinds of things so well, anyway?"

Hotaru looked at him.

For a second, he thought she was going to reveal to him some dark secret of her past, or an earth-shattering proclamation. For a moment, he felt like she was just going to start pouring out all her feelings about anything and everything.

"That's none of your business."

But then again, she was Hotaru Imai after all.

* * *

"Mikan!" Ruka called out to her, nothing in hand. He had decided he would do this simply and properly. He would be himself. Simple, unsophisticated, gimmick-less Ruka. Besides, he would _never_ dance with a monkey.

"Oh, Ruka-pyon! Hello," Mikan greeted, smiling at him.

"Mikan, I need to tell you something," Ruka said, seriously.

He looked into her brown eyes to let her know that he was extremely serious. She looked back with the same intensity.

Mikan nodded. "Okay. What is it?"

Ruka breathed in.

He was going to do this.

No Natsume to stop him this time.

No Tsubasa to aggravate him today.

No Imai to insult and scoff at him now.

"Ruka-pyon?"

'_No Imai…?'_

Ruka then remembered everything. From her many pile of papers containing Mikan's information to her taunting pep talk. From her _"This is good chocolate," _to her "_You look and _are_ stupid, Nogi, so there isn't anything new, is there?"_

"Hello? Rukaaa-pyoooon…"

Ruka suddenly snapped up and found himself inches from Mikan's face.

'_Wait.'_

He was supposed to blush at times like this. His mind was supposed to go haywire and his thoughts were to bounce all over his brain. His hormones were to go crazy and he was to say something extremely stupid.

But he felt nothing.

"Mikan…" Ruka said.

"What happened? You looked weird a few seconds ago," Mikan said pulling back and pouting, completely losing her seriousness.

"Nothing," Ruka said, more to himself than to Mikan. "It was nothing."

But he knew that there was something.

* * *

A grunt. A shuffling of feet. A few steps.

"It's me."

"Nogi, how many times do you have to knock on my door in a day for you to be satisfied?"

Ruka paid no heed to her question. "Please open the door."

She didn't make another sound after that and opened the door slightly, only enough for him to see her tired eyes. She glared at him at first, but then, as if remembering that he had confessed, relaxed and appeared to be trying to search his face of any signs of melancholy.

She found none.

She opened the door a little bit more and narrowed her eyes at him. "She didn't reject you."

He stopped himself from grinning. _'She's jumping into conclusions again.'_

"No. She didn't."

"So, I guess you're a couple now." She concluded, as emotionless as ever. "Just don't break her heart or I'd have to shoot you with my new and improved BAKA Cannon, which becomes more powerful the more fear you show. Do you still have the information I gave you?"

Ruka decided to play along. For the moment, anyway.

He replied, "No. I lost it."

She sighed, as if knowing this was going to happen. "I guess I'll have to print you another one, then, so as not to have any problems."

"That won't be necessary," He told her.

He was enjoying this. Perhaps Hotaru Imai had not _calculated_ for this to happen. If he was right and she didn't expect Mikan to accept his feelings, why did she encourage him? Was that pep talk just an ingenious plan to make him more depressed when he got rejected?

Maybe he'd have more time for questions tomorrow, but now, he has to do something first.

"And why is that?" Hotaru questioned, searching his sapphire eyes for an answer. "Don't tell me you memorized all those."

She seemed to think for a moment before continuing, "But then again, you _are_ desperate."

"Thanks." He said, rolling his eyes. "But that's not the reason."

She seemed to contemplate on this for a moment, trying to search her mind for some other solution to this complicated multi-step equation.

She appeared to have found none, since she narrowed her eyes at him once again, her amethyst orbs contrasting against the brown, wooden door of her room and her hair swaying slightly to the cool breeze of mid-afternoon.

She started talking once more, "If this is a trick, Nogi I swear—"

She couldn't continue her sentence, though, to her obvious dismay, as his lips pressed on hers. It was not rough, and was almost gentle. And it was extremely short.

"And, uh," Ruka mumbled, and it would have been inaudible to her if her senses have not been heightened by the kiss. "Th—That's the reason…"

She looked at him and he felt small once again, as he did when she first helped him. Perhaps he should name that kind of look, since it seems like he would be seeing that more often now. 'The _scary_ look' is too simple and 'The _look that makes you feel like an ant while she is a mysterious exotic hybrid'_ is too long.

She muttered, "Do you feel stupid right now?"

His eyes met hers and he was stuck. He knew he wouldn't be able to avert his eyes for a while. Her eyes looked so tantalizingly beautiful that he wanted to kiss her again. Despite his desire to press his lips to her soft ones, he knew she wouldn't allow him and he respected that.

"Uh, a little bit," Ruka replied, only realizing what he had done and the consequences that would befall him later.

He then saw her lips curve up into an amused smile. Never in his life would he have thought that he would make Hotaru Imai smile. But then again, he never thought he would kiss her too, so for a day like this, Hotaru smiling looked quite mundane.

He had kissed Hotaru Imai and she did not have him assassinated. Life is good.

**A/n: I have no idea why the ending turned out like that.**_** Aaaanyway**_**, I'd be ever so grateful if you leave a review. :)**

**[Edit: 4-29-2012]: Changed the ending a bit. I just couldn't rest, knowing the ending was like that. Thank you for everyone who reviewed. :D**

***-This is in the anime. In the manga, Natsume throws an eraser.**

****-This is the scientific name of the European Rabbit, which is where most pet rabbits are domesticated from. **


End file.
